1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluctuation oscillator, a fluctuation oscillating system, an observation device and a control system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various research has been carried out into artificially creating a central pattern generator (CPG) and using this CPG to operate actuators so as to control an object. Here, a CPG is an oscillator based on a neural network which autonomously outputs a periodic signal to the musculoskeletal system which controls the activities of walking, respiratory and circulatory organs, and the like, in a living organism. Known methods of artificially creating a CPG are a method which creates a CPG signal by computer simulation, and a method which joins together conventional oscillators, such as liquid crystal oscillators, Hartley oscillators, Clapp oscillators, astable multivibrators, in a plurality of chains, and the like. For example, SCIENCE 315, 1416 (2007) describes technology for artificially creating a CPG by linking together a plurality of conventional oscillators in a chain, and using signals output from this CPG to control a robot having a multiple degree-of-freedom joint.
However, in order to create a CPG artificially by computer simulation, it is necessary to use a computer with high computing capacity, and there has been a problem in that compactification of the apparatus and reduction of power consumption are difficult to achieve. Furthermore, in the method described in Non-Patent Document 1, a conventional oscillator is instable in respect of noise, and moreover, the drive voltage of the semiconductor elements must be set to a high level in order to combat noise, thus making it difficult to achieve a CPG with low power consumption. Moreover, in a conventional oscillator, the oscillation frequency is fixed by the circuit constant, and since the oscillation frequency cannot be changed flexibly and autonomously, then there has been a problem in that such an oscillator is not suitable as a CPG which is required to perform cooperative operation between oscillators.